just running.

Summer Lovin’

BBQ wild king salmon on a bed of mixed greens from the farmer’s market with fresh tomatoes, zucchini, and sweet corn dressed in lemon blackberry balsamic

Swoon.

Have I mentioned I love summer?

Oh, and BTW, the lighting in my new apartment is nonexistent, so you will probably be seeing mostly instagram food photos from now on. Bueno? Bueno.

Anyway.

Even though I was close to farmer’s markets both in Richmond and Ann Arbor, I never seemed to make it to them for whatever reason. Luckily, there’s one right here in DC that’s just a few blocks from my apartment. I leashed up the pup on Saturday morning and collected a nice haul of tomatoes, zucchini, mixed greens, strawberries, beets, and apples. Roo was a perfect lady, as usual, and jumped all over everyone and everything. But how can you be mad at something this cute?

So the question is: what the hell have I been doing? Farmer’s market ANYTHING > grocery store anything. Yes, it’s pricey (maybe because I’m in the city???), but holy heck is it worth it. Deeeelicious!

I don’t really have a recipe for ya, it was just the above ingredients tossed with the amazing blackberry balsamic my cousin Ali got me for Christmas, some fresh lemon juice, and salt and pepper. SImple, fresh, and fantastic. Not gonna lie; I’ll probably eat this every night this week.

Well, except for last night when I resurrected wine and cracker night.

I always make my own crackers using Jessica’s recipe, and they are the best. And so super easy. Swear to God.

Honestly, as good as things have been lately, they’ve also been hard. I’m adjusting to a new city and job and life, and I’ve been struggling a bit. Thank God Paula is such a good friend because I’ve emailed/texted her frantically at least 50 gazillion times in the last few weeks, and she still talks to me and doesn’t think I’m completely insane. Or at least, she doesn’t say so to my face. But for whatever reason, I feel like I turned some sort of corner today. Things feel a little better. A little brighter. A little cheerier. So hopefully I’m just going through normal adjustment stuff, and I’ll be feeling more like myself (whatever that means) very soon!

Also, if you haven’t seen this, please do yourself a favor and check it out. Then try not to smile. And if you have a little more time, entertain yourself with this. Please don’t give up on it. It gets really good about 40 seconds in. You’re welcome.

ahhh sweet girl. you seem to be settling in nicely to your new city and home abode! i give you so much credit for being adventurous, starting a new job, moving, making new friends, dating, trying new places and all that other good stuff! you are definitely going to have good days and bad days, no matter where you are living or what you are doing. look at each new day as the start of a new beginning and give yourself a big hug! you deserve it! u definitely have had some major life changes and you are or seem to be doing great!!! xoxo p.s. roo is just too cute.

oh hi.

Hi, I'm Melissa JoAnn--hence the Hungry Healthy MJ url up there. This blog used to be about cooking and running. Now it's about . . . well, whatever happens to run through my mind on any given day, but mostly just my training. Hope you enjoy reading along as I navigate my way through the wonderful world of marathon training.